Therapeutic Focus

PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTION

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, or PCI, is the procedure used to treat blockage in the coronary arteries that is caused by atherosclerosis. 

PCI was invented to treat blocked arteries without putting patients through an invasive process like bypass grafting surgery.  However, patients undergoing PCI still have a risk of experiencing bleeding events.

At the start of the procedure, a needle is inserted into the femoral artery (the main artery in the thigh), which allows the physician to thread a thin catheter with a balloon at its tip into the vessel.  The catheter is guided to the narrowed coronary artery via the aorta.  Once the catheter reaches the blockage within the coronary artery, the physician inflates the balloon at the tip of the catheter, widening the narrowed artery.  This allows the blood to flow more easily through the previously blocked vessel. The physician may also insert a stent to prevent the artery from reclosing.